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You Are Mine

Perhaps it was a reaction to today’s Mass readings, in the second of which Paul speaks of making himself a “slave to all so as to win over as many as possible.” Or perhaps to Fr. R.J.’s homily at St. Thomas More Church this morning, which emphasized the universal call to proclaim the Gospel with our lives. Doubtless it was some combination of both that prompted a different hearing of the song we sang during the offertory.

The song is one I have known for years, David Hass’ You are Mine. The song is Jesus’ words to us, a promise that he is near, that he will always love us, that he will bring us home. I recognize many are unhappy with any songs in which we sing the words of God/Christ, but I nonetheless have a fondness for it.

But as I heard the words this morning, I heard them as a call for our own behavior. What would the world look like if I – if all of us who call ourselves Christians – truly see ourselves as…

…hope for the hopeless,
…eyes for all who long to see,
…strength for all the despairing,
…healing for the ones who dwell in shame,

We are not God. But we can do much to ease the suffering of others, to lift them from fear, to be their light. And we are called to do so.